Baby Knows Best
by EmAndHerPen
Summary: When Sam said "for the rest of our lives," he meant it. Family!Samcedes fluff. A peek into Sam and Mercy's family dynamic with a precious  and sometimes precocious  little girl and one on the way.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, blahblahblah**

**A/N: A little future!Samcedes family fluff for you guys. The idea for this came during a time when I was trying to update HTMS and couldn't think of anything else, lol. Enjoy!**

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><p>Mercedes smiled as she heard a little squeal followed by the pitter-patter of little feet mixed with the jingle of her keys in the door. This was easily her favorite part of the day. She barely stepped through the door before a tiny pair of arms wrapped around her legs and a melodic little voice melted her heart.<p>

"_Mommy_! Up, _up_!"

Bending over, she picked her little girl up and settled her on her hip. Immediately she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and gave her a peck on the cheek before snuggling into her. Any exhaustion or tension she felt from her long days as a teacher disappeared the second she had her baby girl in her arms. Mercedes lovingly ruffled her daughter's chocolate curls and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Daddy! Mommy's home!"

Mercedes tried to stifle her laughter when she heard an exaggerated gasp come from around the corner.

"Where? I can't find her, Jojo!"

"She's with me, daddy! We're over here," she called out.

"Are you guys in the _kitchen?"_

"No!"

"How about in the _den_?"

"_No_!"

"Well then you _must_ be in the basement," he said, his voice sounding father and farther away.

"_Daddy,_" she giggled, "we're by the _door_-" she barely finished her statement before a blonde blur zoomed into the foyer and began tickling her until she was gasping for breath.

"You're such a goofball, _daddy_," Mercedes teased.

"You know you love it, _mommy_," Sam sassed back, wrapping his two favorite girls in a big hug before giving his wife quite the 'welcome home' kiss.

"_Eww_!"

Sam broke the kiss and arched a brow at his daughter. "And what's so '_eww_' about your dad kissing your mom, Josie? Didn't you just kiss her hello?"

"I dunno. When I kiss mommy it's not as yucky," she declared, feistily challenging his gaze with a brow arch of her own.

Mercedes took one look at her daughter's expression and abandoned all hope of holding her laughter in.

"I don't know what you're laughing at," Sam smirked, "she may look like both of us, but that attitude is all_ you_."

Mercedes couldn't argue with that. Josie was a combination of the best parts of them, physically and personality-wise. Her skin was the color of honey, and her heart shaped face featured Sam's semi-permanent blush and her dimples. She had his eyes and her button nose, and a mop of dark brown curls that were beginning to lighten with the summer sun. Josie shared her parents' aptitude for music and at four years of age her voice already showed promise. She was also one of the only little girls that requested graphic novels and comic books to be read to her at bedtime instead of the usual fairy tale.

"Yeah, _yeah_…" Mercedes mumbled before breaking into a bemused smile.

"Alright Josie, you know Mommy can't carry you around like she used to. You're a big girl, time to get down," he said, reaching for her. Quite comfortable with her current position, she smacked his hands away and nuzzled further into her mother's neck.

"Leave her alone," Mercedes giggled, "it's fine, she's feather light and you know it."

"But you're-"

"It's _fine_, Sam!"

He held his hands up in mock surrender and narrowed his eyes when Josie peeked out from her mother's neck long enough to stick her tongue out at him victoriously. "Yup. Definitely your child." He ignored the fact that his wife copied his daughter's actions. "At least let me take your bag?"

She nodded and slipped it off her shoulder, handing it to him before heading to the den and sitting with Josie in her lap. Sam joined her with a couple of glasses of lemonade and apple juice for Josie.

"So, how was your last day?" Sam asked, handing her a glass.

"You know, it's always sad having to pack up the room, but I'm looking forward to the summer. I spent almost all of lunch signing my seniors' yearbooks," she sighed, wistfully, "they were a great bunch, I'm gonna miss them."

"You say that every year," Sam said with a smile.

"That's because it's true," Mercedes insisted, "even the ones that come in as jerks mellow out by their senior year, you know?" She twirled Josie's curls absently around her fingers. "They even surprised me by taking down all of the posters and sweeping the choir room out. Apparently I shouldn't have to do that in my condit-"

"_Dumb straw!_"

"Josie! What did I say about using that word?"

She looked up at her mother with wide eyes and a pout; Mercedes was happy she had better resolve than her husband, or else Josie would be spoiled rotten before she entered kindergarten. She was the princess of her father's heart, and all it took was a tear in her green eyes or a quiver of her little pink lip and he'd cave. Lately he'd been growing somewhat of a backbone, but more often than not she had to play the bad cop.

"_Don't say it_…" Josie pouted.

"Good, then I had better not catch you saying it again, understand?

"Yes ma'am."

Mercedes leaned down and kissed the apple of her daughter's cheek and then put the straw into the juice box; instantly, her frown blossomed into a dimpled smile.

She looked up at Sam and almost laughed at how relieved he looked that he hadn't been the one to face the pout. She had him wrapped around her little finger, that was for sure.

"And how did your day go? Besides catering to your daughter's every whim, of course."

"Ha. Funny," he quipped, though he had to admit that she wasn't wrong. As long as it wasn't in any way bad for her or exceedingly ridiculous, he found it next to impossible to deny her requests. And, honestly, was there anything wrong with being a _little_ spoiled?

"Don't you start pouting too," she joked, laughing when he broke into an exaggerated version of Josie's signature expression. Mercedes couldn't help but lean in and kiss his pout away, stopping only when they heard a disgusted sigh from the little diva that had moved to sit between them.

"Something tells me Josie doesn't approve," Sam murmured against her lips, smiling

"Something tells me she'll deal," Mercedes replied, giving him a peck and smiling down at their exasperated daughter. Josie grabbed her coloring book and a handful of crayons from the coffee table and settled back between her parents, looking up at them with an irritated shake of her head before focusing on her activity.

"_Well_," Sam began, "I finished the site and menus for that new café that's opening downtown, then Josie and I went to the park." He tucked a curl behind her little ear and smiled. "You want to tell her what happened next, Jojo?"

"We made ants on a log but with cranberries insteada raisins! They were super yummy." Josie beamed up at her mom.

"That's really…_exciting_, Jojo," she shot an amused look at Sam, who looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"No, honey, what happened _after_ we had snack?"

"Oh," she shrugged, "daddy taught me how to minus. Like if you minus four from ten it gives you six."

Mercedes grinned; of course she didn't think math, which she apparently had a knack for, was nearly as exciting as snack time. She was Sam's daughter, after all – talking about a snack like it was the absolute highlight of her day because it, in fact, was.

"Peanut butter, celery, and dried cranberries are more exciting than her learning a skill two years ahead of time: she has flawless priorities, quite honestly," Sam retorted.

"They sound like your priorities…"

"Hey!"

"Think back to your school days and tell me lunch wasn't your favorite class, Sam. Go ahead, I'll wait."

He draped an arm over her shoulder. "Sometimes I think you know me too well," he grinned, kissing her cheek and laughing when their daughter looked up approvingly.

Josie snuggled into Mercedes' side and put her hand on her belly while fixing her mother with a curious gaze. "How much longer until Danny is borned?"

Sam and Mercedes exchanged a look over their daughter's head. A little over two months ago, a few days before Josie's fourth birthday, they found out their second child was going to be a boy. When they came home and shared the news with her, she insisted that her little brother's name was Danny. They explained that while Danny was a great name, they might pick another one. And she informed them in no uncertain terms that she would always call him Danny, because that was his name.

"Josie," Sam said, "we talked about this, honey. His name might not be Danny, mommy and daddy get to pick his name, just like we picked your name." He ruffled her curls. "Understand?"

"His name is Danny," she declared, scooting off the sofa and heading towards the playroom.

Sam looked at his wife, who simply shrugged in return. The couple fell into a conversation about their days and the schedule changes that would happen now that Mercedes was free for the summer. She stretched out on the sofa, her feet in Sam's lap. As soon as he gave her a wicked smile she knew what he was up to, but he grabbed her feet before she could react and mercilessly tickled the soles.

"Sa-_am_! _Stop_! Pregnant, bladder - _bladder_!" Mercedes managed to gasp out between breathless giggles. When he refused to cease and desist, she began to kick him, which of course got his attention.

"Geez Mercy!" Sam grabbed her feet to stop the attack. "I know we already have one, with one on the way, but I don't think that means you should try and break my equipment."

"You asked for it," Mercedes scoffed, "I asked you nicely once. And I don't ask more than once." She tossed him a knowing wink. "But you're familiar with that policy."

Sam's lips quirked into that special half smile that emerged just for her. "It's a good thing Josie's in the other room," he said, pulling at her legs so she scooted closer to him.

"Why's that?" Mercedes blinked in faux innocence.

"So I can do this," he rumbled, leaning down and capturing her lips in a deep, lengthy kiss. She smiled against his lips and was about to kiss him again when the baby kicked.

"Oh!" Mercedes shifted into a sitting position and cradled her pregnant belly as their son pounded out a drum solo with his little feet. "Jesus, he's almost as obnoxious as you are."

"Gee, thanks," he grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on his wife's belly, "We'll take that as a compliment. _Isn't that right, Danny_?" Sam cooed at his unborn son.

"Um, baby?"

He looked up to see his wife's bemused expression of disbelief. "What?"

"You just called him Danny…"

Sam sat back stunned as he realized she was right. Mercedes burst into a loud laugh and all he could do was sit there and blush. "Well," he began, attempting to save himself, "Daniel _is_ a nice, strong name. Think about it: 'Daniel Evans' – it has a nice ring to it."

Mercedes' eyebrows shot up in surprise when she found herself agreeing; it _did_ sound rather nice. When Sam put the first and last names together, something clicked for her in the best way possible. "I…I kind of _really_ like it, actually," she admitted, barely believing she was saying what she was saying.

"Me too…" Sam trailed off, looking every bit as shocked as his wife. At that moment Josie waltzed back into the den in a lavender tutu and princess tiara from the costume chest in her playroom. The couple sat back in a bit of a stupor as she smiled and sang and danced across the room. By the time she finished her performance they pulled themselves together enough to applaud her before she skipped back out of the room.

Mercedes shifted to face her husband. "So, did- did we just let our four year old daughter name her brother?"

Behind her back, Sam spotted Josie doing a silent victory dance in the doorway, tutu and curls flying every which way, fists punching the air; unfortunately, she got her dancing abilities from him. "Yeah," he smiled, "I think we did."

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><p><strong>Josie is a boss, but then again what else do you expect the offspring of two awesome people to be? :D<strong>

**I'm thinking maybe I'll turn this into a series of loosely connected family!Samcedes one-shots. Would that be something you guys are interested in?**

**I hope you liked it, and if you have any family!Samcedes prompts or headcanons, drop those in a review and I'll try my best to fill them!**

**-Em**


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